First things first, I reserved Mario Kart 7 today! I did so at GameStop, and the employee there was pretty cool. Had a nice little conversation, and she was excited for Mario Kart 7 as well. Anyways, a few weeks back, I discovered there was a Super Mario 3D Land demo at Best Buy. Today, I headed back to the store and found a demo of Mario Kart 7! I’ve posted a video showing off the first two of three tracks available to play in the demo. As you can see, my one-handed skills with Super Mario 3D Land didn’t totally transfer over to this game unfortunately.

So what did I think? It was a lot of fun! I played the demo three times (the video above shows my first time playing the courses). It felt like Mario Kart, but it did feel a little fresh as well. First off, the graphics were great. Immediately I was impressed with it, especially in 3D. The three courses I raced in were Rock Rock Mountain, Cheep Cheep Lagoon, and Shy Guy Bazaar. Rock Rock Mountain and Cheep Cheep Lagoon were pretty basic courses, nothing that special about that. Rock Rock Mountain featured the gliding aspect of the game which was interesting. I’m definitely going to have to think about what my strategy will be, whether I remain in the air for a while or glide straight back down to the course. And Cheep Cheep Lagoon featured some underwater driving, which slows down the race a little bit, though it didn’t add as much to the gameplay as the gliding does.

The third course was Shy Guy Bazaar and that was fun! There were many different paths to take, so this is going to be a very interesting course to play online. Throughout my playtime, I did notice the AI was smarter. They were actually hitting me with some green shells and throwing bombs right in front of me. I also noticed one computer character taking a shortcut in Cheep Cheep Lagoon, which was interesting. I also got to try two out of the three new items. The Tanooki Leaf is one that goes away after a certain period of time, and I was only able to hit one opponent with it, but it was satisfying nonetheless. I also tried Lucky 7, which despite seeming like it could be overpowered by giving you 7 power-ups, it’s actually very strategic in nature. The item you select when you press the L button is the one directly in front of you at the time by the way, and opponents can also steal these items if they come near you. This item could potentially create some really crazy fun scenarios. I didn’t get to try the Fire Flower though, unfortunately.

All in all, it was a lot of fun and I’m very excited for more. I did also notice that the 3DS demo station at Best Buy had many more demos, so here is a list of all the demos I could find:
PilotWings Resort
Nintendogs + cats
Steel Diver
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
Star Fox 64 3D
Super Mario 3D Land
Mario Kart 7
Sonic Generations
Cooking Mama 4: Kitchen Magic
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
Carnival Games Wild West 3D
Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions
Centipede: Infestation (available on eShop by the way, not a retail title)
Happy Feet Two
Assault Horizon Legacy

So there are lots of demos to try out, make sure you head to your local Best Buy and give them a whirl! I did briefly try both Sonic Generations and LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 as well. Sonic was okay, the controls were a little too sensitive for my liking, but I only got to try one stage (the demo did have two stages by the way). And Harry Potter seems like it would be fun for anyone who likes the LEGO games and Harry Potter, so if that’s you… then try it out! Oh, and one more thing… if you bring your 3DS with you to Best Buy and try out their Nintendo Zone, there is a coupon that expires on December 4th that will give you 10% off any 3DS game.

That’s all I have for you, so check out Best Buy if you get a chance. Mario Kart 7 comes out this Sunday in the US, so if you’re getting the game then make sure you join us online! We set up an online community (150cc and All Items) to race in, so when you get the game, enter in this Community Code: 49-7013-6157-1921. See you online!

About the author:

In June 2008, Hassan was offered a position at NintendoFuse, and he accepted it right away. He is a big Nintendo fan, and has owned every handheld since the Game Boy Color and every console since the Nintendo 64. Hassan’s philosophy is very simple: “fun”. He plays video games to escape from life for a while and just relax and enjoy. As a blogger, Hassan’s focus is to provide the most detailed news articles and hands-on impressions that you will find anywhere. The more information that he can provide to the fans and readers, the better. And to further expand on his philosophy of fun and his detail-oriented goal, Hassan started up the NintendoFuse Podcast in September of 2009.

Hassan has been blogging for NintendoFuse since June 2008, and he enjoys being a part of this wonderful community. He hopes to provide you with the latest and greatest Nintendo news and rumors, as well as hands-on impressions, with as much detail as possible to benefit the fans and readers.